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20110913

Does anyone care about deaths in SA police custody?

During apartheid, every one of the 74 deaths in SA police custody up to 1994 was widely condemned in screaming headlines and frantic international protest campaigns. Under the ANC regime, deaths in custody soared to 695 in 2006 and reached 860 deaths in 2010. Only the annual Amnesty International summaries have some paragraphs tucked away mentioning this horrific fact. No screaming headlines, no frantic international protest actions. Why did world opinion come to such a screeching halt once the ANC came to power?

Burglary suspect, 21, was hunted down by the black community: KwaThema police claimed he committed suicide overnight

also:

8 September 2011 source: journalist Mpho Morereane - Although an inquest still has to be conducted to establish the exact facts, the SA police force have already announced that an unnamed 21-year-old man ‘hung himself’ in the KwaThema Police Station holding cells on the morning of Sept 8 2011. Journalist Mpho Morereane quoted the police as saying: "He apparently tied a blanket around the bars of the window in the cell and hung himself. The police found his body at around 8am, when he was about to be taken for profiling. How he climbed and reached the bars still puzzles the police. The deceased was arrested on last Thursday for house break-in and theft. He apparently stole a DVD player, blankets, potable radio and a duvet from a shack at Extension Three, KwaThema. The community, which is tired of burglaries in the area, hunted him down at Barcelona section, still in possession of the stolen items.”

This happened in a blink of an eye…

Sergeant  Andries Tshabalala, KwaThema police spokesman, told Morereane that ‘they were shocked by the incident because police regularly checked the detainees. This happened in a blink of an eye. However, we would like to send our condolences to the family of the deceased. People in custody must know that they are not guilty until proven guilty by the courts," says Sgt Tshabalala.
He adds that an inquest docket has been opened.

    The arrested man who was found hanging in his KwaThema police cell on September 8 2011.

    SAPF CUSTODY KWATHEMA MAN ARRESTED SEPT72011 (2)

     

    SAPF CUSTODY KWATHEMA POLICE OFFICERS FOUND HANGING SUSPECT SEPT82011

     Picture above: Sgt Andries Tshabalala flanked by members of the KwaThema police station, posing with the dead man’s recovered ‘loot’ Sept 8 2011

    ___________________________________________________________

    Gareth Newham of the Institute for Security Studies reported in May 2011 that the number of people shot dead by police doubled since 2006; that the overall deaths in police custody or resulting from police action, at 860 in the 2009-2010 year, were markedly higher than the average of 695 a year in the five-year period from 2003 to 2008. But that’s not all: the number of people shot dead by the SA policing authorities, also jumped from 281 in 2005-2006 to 521 in 2010 – giving South Africa the dubious distinction of having one of the highest recorded rates of homicides by police officers in the world. By comparison: the United States (overall population of 311-million) had 439 arrest-related homicides by law enforcement personnel in 2006.) http://bit.ly/pO2pPm

    Amnesty International warned about large number of deaths and rapes in South African police custody in its 2011 summary.

    Amnesty International flagged police torture, deaths in custody, extrajudicial killings and threats to the work of human rights defenders as matters of concern in South Africa.  It cited Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) figures for April 2009 to March 2010 -  which recorded five direct complaints against the police of torture and 920 complaints of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm by the police -  and only some of which were being investigated for evidence of torture. Seven of 294 deaths in custody in 2010 were linked to torture and 90 others to “injuries sustained in custody”.  The ICD also investigated 24 complaints of rape by police officers. Also of concern to Amnesty were the changes to the Criminal Procedures Act that allows police to use deadly force against a suspect resisting or fleeing arrest, where they believed there is a risk of “future death” if the suspect escaped. A.I. warned: "This proposed change allowed for the use of deadly force “in circumstances beyond those allowed by international human rights standards”.The report also raised concerns over threats to freedom of expression and the work of human rights defenders. It cited, among others, the trial of 12 supporters of housing rights movement Abahlali baseMjondolo on charges relating to violence in the Kennedy Road informal settlement in 2009 and the unlawful arrest of Sunday Times journalist Mzilikazi wa Afrika after his reports on an alleged hit squad linked to senior Limpopo provincial government members. Also of concern were ANC plans for a media appeals tribunal and the tabling of the draconian Protection of Information Bill. Amnesty International did not however condemn the well-recorded, ongoing genocide of the Afrikaners and the unconstitutional hatespeech targetting the white minority for genocide by the ANC regime.
    http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/amnesty-red-flag-police-brutality-1.1068706

    sources:

    Mail & Guardian: 866 people died in SA police custody in 2009/2010 bookyear 2010 http://bit.ly/pO2pPm

    Man dies in police custody: KwaThema Sept 8 2011:

    Deaths in custody during apartheid up to 1994:

    Deaths in custody under ANC regime: Sowetan: 566 deaths in police custody in the year 2010 up to Oct 2010: but the total by the end of the 2010 bookyear was 860…

    SAPS 566 PEOPLE KILLED IN POLICE CUSTODY IN 2010 Sowetan

    http://www.sowetan.co.za  - Parties urge probe into 566 deaths 23 Nov 2010

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